The art of dalang (puppetry) for the Javanese people in particular and the Indonesian nation in general is one of the many cultural riches of ancestral heritage that is of great value. Therefore the art of puppetry is called a traditional art of adi luhung, which means it is very beautiful and has a high value. The art of puppetry contains the value of life and noble life, which at the end of each story (play) always wins good and overcomes evil. It contains a teaching that good deeds will be superior, while evil actions will always accept defeat, for example the Mahabharata and Ramayana stories.
There have been many books written by Indonesian and foreign cultural experts about the art of puppetry and not only about minor matters but about its essence and philosophy. Some of them stated that the art of puppetry has no equal in this world. Another opinion also states that the art of puppetry with its beauty is a reflection of the refinement of the human soul and is not only a game show for mere entertainment.
Pedalangan is an activity where the point of the problem lies in the puppeteer who is assisted by pengrawit, swarawati or pesinden, and with other complete means of serving puppetry.
Meaning of the term puppeteer
Some experts argue that the meaning of the term dalang in the context of many dalang is one of the traditional Javanese court tools. Prof. Winter explained that the anteban puppeteer is an explanation for a rabbi or a sign of marriage in the form of gold.
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The role of the puppeteer in a puppetIn the book Reflection on Wayang Kulit Performance by Dr. Seno Sastroamidjojo mentioned that the word dalang comes from the words Wedha and Wulang. What is meant by Wedha is the holy book of Hinduism which contains religious teachings, rules of life and human life in society, especially those that lead to the perfection of life. Wulang means teaching or advice, mulang means teaching. The term dalang is an expert who has honesty and the obligation to teach lessons, descriptions or interpretations of the Wedha holy book and its meaning to the public. |
Dalang also comes from the word dalung or called blencong, which is a traditional lighting tool. With this opinion, the function of the puppeteer in society is as an interpreter.
Dalang comes from the word Angudal Piwulang. Angudal means telling, exposing, uttering and explaining all of his heart. Piwulang means advice or advice. With this opinion, the dalang is an educator or community guide or community teacher.
The term dalang comes from the word Talang which means water channel on the roof. So the word dalang is likened to gutters which can be interpreted as water channels. In this case, the dalang is meant as a liaison or channel between the human world and the spirit world.
The role of the puppeteer
In the Kawi inscription (Kawi Oorkonde) compiled by Cohan Stuart, it has been discussed about the jokester and Haringgit Banyol. The inscription dates back to 762 Caka or 840 AD. Further information according to Kern found on the inscription which dates from 782 Caka or 860 AD mentions the term Bharata. This term means that the Juru Bharat is the one who leads and plays the puppets.
In the Javanese literature, it is explained by Kern and RM Ng. Purbacaraka has widu as a puppeteer model. Widu is a person whose job is to compose stories and wear all white. In the book Wayang Origins of Philosophy and Its Future, Sri Mulyono's work states that the puppeteer is Pandita. Claire Holt asserts that the puppeteer is a leader, script writer, spokesperson, producer, director, and also a person who plays wayang.
Soedarsono has quoted G.A.J Hazeu's opinion that the dalang is a wandering artist because when he is holding a performance he always moves places. It is clear that the dalang's function is as teacher, interpreter and entertainer. Meanwhile, education in the spiritual field (spirituality) must contain aesthetic, ethical, educational, creative, consultative and recreational elements.
Aesthetic, meaning that the mastermind's work must provide pleasure to the audience and cultivate and reflect a sense of beauty. Ethical, meaning that the description of the puppeteer must be a fertilizer, guidance, and guidance to the community in the moral code that applies in the social environment. Educative, meaning that the puppeteer must participate in educating and inviting the public to create new things without changing the authenticity of the art of puppetry. Creative, meaning that the puppeteer must foster and invite the community to create new things. Consultative, meaning that the puppeteer must provide direction and information to people who are still blind to the things that are going on. Recreational, meaning that the puppeteer provides fresh entertainment and becomes a public attraction.
Classification of Puppeteers
If you look carefully at the elements above, it is clear that it is impossible for the puppeteers to have all of them, but maybe each dalang has different skills. Based on the above trends, puppeteers can be divided into groupings, namely Dalang Jati, Dalang Purba, Dalang Wasesa, Dalang Guna, and Wikalpa Dalang.
Dalang Jati is a puppeteer who focuses his work on various stories that can be used as role models for the community. The puppeteer of Purba is the puppeteer as a guide and giving advice to the community about human life and life in the world and in the hereafter by assessing the plays he is working on. The puppeteer Wasesa is a puppeteer who can master and know the terrain the audience wants in performing his plays. The puppeteer is a puppeteer who emphasizes the fabric of his story, which is in accordance with the rules of puppetry art. The puppeteer Wikalpa is a puppeteer who conveys knowledge of worldliness, while the story is still adhering to the standard of puppetry.
Based on the puppeteers' skills and intelligence, the puppeteers can be grouped into three groups. The three groups are the Main Dalang, Madya Dalang, and Purana Puppets.
The main puppeteer is a puppeteer who in his experience has reached the pinnacle of work and is versatile. The Madya puppeteer is a puppeteer who is in the middle of his cleverness. The puppeteer Purana is a puppeteer who is in the learning stage.
Of the three major groups, it can be broken down into five groups, namely the Banyol Dalang, the Sabet Dalang, the Antawacana Dalang, the Suluk Dalang, the Pakem Dalang.
The Banyol puppeteer is a puppeteer who is more skilled in joking or creating jokes from panakawan or on certain characters. The puppeteer Sabet is a puppeteer who is good at playing the puppet, dancing the puppet and playing the puppet with skillful and dexterous movements so that it seems alive. The Antawacana puppeteer is a puppeteer who is good at telling stories, rich in vocabulary, including the application of the sound of each puppet. The puppeteer of Suluk is a puppeteer who is good at performing suluk or other kakawin and has a pleng voice (in line with the gamelan's tuning) such as: sendhon, ada-ada or bendhengan. The puppeteer of the Pakem is a puppeteer who clings to the standard stories that have been outlined in the standard puppetry book.
Puppeteer Duties
The task of the puppeteer referred to in this description is the task of the pakeliran or wayang performance, either the old style puppeteer or the present era. In the following, we will describe the definitions of terms that can be used as basic knowledge which is commonly called sanguning dalang. A good and clever puppeteer, understanding and skilled, is obliged to master renggep, master antawacana, enges, hot, team, sem, tutug, jokes, kawi radya, sabet, amardibasa, parama literature, dodogan, keprakan, awicarita, amardawalagu.
The puppeteer must master the renggep, meaning that he must have a sense of joy in the puppeteer and not be tired or unsaturated. The puppeteer must master antawacana, meaning that the puppeteer must be able to give a distinctive and specific voice to each puppet with one another. Enges (nges), meaning that the mastermind's work must be able to cause a sense of emotion or charm. Greget, which means the implementation of pakeliran depicting an atmosphere that is lively, excited, tense, angry and so on. Regu, meaning that the implementation of pakeliran is good and interesting, so that it feels the nobility of the art of puppetry. Sem, means the implementation of pakeliran depicting a romantic atmosphere, according to the needs of the scene. Tutug (finished), which means the conversation between two or more puppets and / or the story spoken by the puppeteer in a scene without the puppet, must be complete and not shortened or partially removed. Banyol, meaning that the conversation and movement of the puppets and the words of the puppeteer can make the audience laugh. Kawi radya, which means that the puppeteer at the beginning of his work or in working on the initial scene must be good at telling the meaning and plot of the story he is going to work on, among other things by using words with beautiful literature.
The puppeteer must have the ability to sabet, meaning that he must have skills in the wayang krida, not be careless, live and have the technique of moving puppets. Understanding parama kawi, meaning that the dalang must understand kawi language and its literature so that he will be able to interpret the words he is going to say. Amardibasa, which means that the puppeteer must understand and know the language of puppetry, for example the language of gods, giants, clowns and others. Understanding parama literature, meaning that the puppeteer must understand grammar and have to delve a lot in literature to find out a good sequence of conversation. Skilled, which means being skilled in terms of summarizing and extending stories, gending, ginem, suluk, dodogan, keprakan, and so on. The main thing is that the puppeteer must be able to summarize or be able to extend everything that has to do with the needs of pakeliran. Awicarita, meaning that the puppeteer must really understand all the stories that are being played. Amardawalagu, which means that the puppeteer must have extensive experience in musicals and gending, how to sing, and special suluk-suluk for a puppet show.
The nature of the puppeteer
The properties of the puppeteer are divided into five. The five characteristics of the puppeteer are gendeng, gending, gendung, gendeng, gandang, and these terms have different meanings.
Gendeng, which means having a social spirit, having an open heart, protecting for the welfare and safety of the inner and outer. Gending, which means being flexible in serving various situations, having the spirit of momot, kamot, and momong. Gendung, which means having a sense of personality and responsibility. Gendeng, meaning that he is not easily affected by circumstances, does not hesitate, and is far from feeling inferior. Gandang, meaning spontaneous, established, and free from unfavorable prejudice.
Prohibitions that the Dalang Should Avoid
The prohibition in question is behavior that a puppeteer should not do in carrying out pakeliran. These prohibitions include changing the subject matter of the story and changing the contents of the play, bogus, meaning that the story runs out or finishes prematurely, karahinan (late), meaning that there is too much time, for example, the sun has risen but the story it is working on is not finished, it is slow in terms of: telling stories , barrel, sabet, and time, the puppeteer leaves the stage prematurely, the blencong lights are not fixed, rongeh, meaning restless, sitting uneasy, always looking left and right at the audience, leaving the puppetry work for example.
What is meant by getting out of puppetry, namely, issuing foreign words outside of puppetry language, pratingkah means foreign behavior to the world of puppetry, teasing guests with the intention of dropping the guest's dignity in front of other guests.